Tokens
by Stargazing BasketCase
Summary: He thought about them, in that long year. And every time the Master visited him in his prison, bearing tokens of another loss, his heart broke a little more. Character deaths. Sort of.
1. ianto jones

Title: **Tokens**

Rating: T

Summary: He thought about them, in that long year. And every time the Master visited him in his prison, bearing tokens of another loss, his heart broke a little more. Character deaths. Sort of.

Disclaimer: Don't own Torchwood, or Doctor Who. Meh.

The first of five parts, and I will be posting the remaining four over the next week or so. I actually have them written! Amazing! They just need to be checked over… My take on what happened to the remaining members of Torchwood in the year that never happened.

R&R is blessed to the Muse, and enjoy!

Tokens

**--ianto jones--**

There are so many of them, pouring from the sky.

As the four friends look up, they can all feel it – the sick, roiling feeling in the pit of their stomachs. What their leader used to call their sixth sense: their danger sense. This is wrong.

"Oh my God." Toshiko is the first one to break the silence – the stunned, horrified silence that has fallen upon them.

"What _are_ they?" Gwen is quick on her friend's heels, the words falling from her lips unbidden.

No one can answer her shocked question because nobody knows. For all their expertise and experience, they are silent. Horrified, as the screams begin from the city below.

"We have to run." Owen's features are stricken as he speaks. "We have to run and hide."

"We have to stop this!" Gwen rounds on him – anything to block the destruction from her mind.

"How?!" Anger, ripping through his voice.

"We have to try."

"We need Jack." At last, Ianto speaks. His jeans are scuffed at the knees and his hair is windswept, but none of this shows on his face. Grief and fear, so devastatingly clear.

Owen turns away. "Jack's gone, Ianto. He left us, remember?"

"Owen…" There's disapproval in Toshiko's voice, but she doesn't get a chance to continue her reprimand.

A giggle in the air; a giggle and a _whoosh_.

"It's _them!_"

"_Run!_"

**--jack harkness--**

"They ran, Jack." The Master's face is split by a happy smile as he speaks the words to his bound and filthy companion. "But one of your little friends didn't run fast enough."

A blood-stained stopwatch swings from his fingers, in front of his captive's face.

"And he won't be the last."


	2. toshiko sato

**­­**Disclaimer etc.: see 1st part.

Thanks to my reviewers: **Emela**, **cirana **and **Neb**. Je vous aime!

R&R is blessed to the Muse, and enjoy!

Tokens

**--toshiko sato--**

The wood between her teeth splinters as she tries not to cry out.

Gwen's cool fingers on her forehead do nothing to relieve the pain that jolts through her every time Owen delves deeper. Tears leak from beneath her tightly closed eyelids and she whimpers.

"Sshh, Tosh love, it's okay." Gwen's whispers are well-meant, but they do nothing.

It's a relief when the pain suddenly stops. Toshiko sags back against the cold stone beneath her and tries not to think about what that cessation of pain means.

Owen and Gwen whisper together. There are tears on Gwen's cheeks and a quaver in Owen's voice. Toshiko doesn't want whispers – she wants to know what is wrong. And she knows that something is wrong.

"What is it?" Those are the only three words she can manage – she is so tired.

Gwen shifts up to kneel beside Toshiko's head. She strokes her friend's sweat-soaked hair. "It's going to be okay." Gwen's whispering to her – it's like she's scared someone will hear her. "We're going to look after you, Tosh. I promise."

Owen crouches on Toshiko's other side, and his fingers find her hand. He smiles down at her. "Close your eyes." His voice is so soft. "Sleep. When you wake up, it'll all be okay."

Toshiko has never seen Owen this gentle – with her or anyone else. And then she knows. "I'm dying, aren't I?"

Gwen sobs, just the once.

But Toshiko smiles. "It's okay, Gwen." She's soothing Gwen, but she's the one about to die. Strangely, that doesn't surprise her. "I'm okay. It's my time."

"Tosh…" Owen's voice shakes as he speaks. He blinks back tears, and then he leans down and presses his lips to hers.

When he draws back, he and Gwen are alone.

**--jack harkness--**

"Two down, Jack." The Master waves a pair of glasses before his prisoner's face – a pair of glasses with cracked lenses. His captive audience doesn't look up.

The Time Lord tucks the broken spectacles into the human's pocket, alongside the bloody stopwatch.

"Two to go."


	3. owen harper

Disclaimer etc.: see 1st part.

Thanks go to my reviewers: **Emela**, **cirana**, **Horsie Friend **and **Sadly, I have no name**. I love you guys!

R&R is blessed to the Muse, and enjoy!

Tokens

**--owen harper--**

Food packets crinkle as he rustles through them.

Gwen watches him. "We're running out." It's a statement, not a question. She can tell she's right by the expression on his face.

Owen sighs and sits back on his heels. "We've got enough for another couple of weeks." It's not an answer, but it's all she's getting from him. He slams the lid back down on the airtight box. "Go back to sleep."

"Owen…"

"Sleep, Gwen. You'll need your strength for tomorrow." How many times has he said that to her before? And how many more 'tomorrows' will they get? "I'll take first watch."

She's not happy, but she turns her back to him and eventually slips back into restless slumber.

He waits until she's fast asleep before he reaches back and draws his gun out from its leather holster. Food is running out, but he knows that there will be more for one than there is for two.

A tear runs down his cheek, unnoticed.

Owen gets to his feet and stands over Gwen. She sleeps on, unaware.

"It's me or you, Gwen. Only one of us can go on."

With slow, deliberate movements he takes the safety off his weapon. There are only a few rounds left, he knows this, but he only needs one bullet for this purpose. His purpose.

"I'm saving a life." He says it to himself – to steel himself against what he is about to do. This is something he's never done before, and never will again.

Tears fill his eyes. "Oh God." He chokes the words out. He looks down at her, at his sleeping friend. She is unaware. He sniffs hard, and his next words are nothing but a whisper. "Goodbye, Gwen."

He spins the gun around and rams it into his mouth.

**--jack harkness--**

"So selfless, Jack. Did you teach him that?" The Master peers into his captive's unmoving features, before turning his attention to the crimson-spattered chain necklace that he spins around his index finger. "Killed himself to save his friend. Such a noble act." His eyebrows rise. "From what I read about him, I never would have guessed." He laughs. "War changes people. Brings out their…true colours."

The caged man's pocket is getting full, but the Master still slides the stained chain in to join its fellows.

"Just one left now, my friend."


	4. gwen cooper

Disclaimer etc.: see 1st part.

Thanks to my reviewers: **talkingtothesky**, **cirana**, **Horsie Friend **and **Talaayn**. I love you all! Aussi, there will be one more part after this. Jack's turn:D

R&R is blessed to the Muse, and enjoy!

Tokens

**--gwen cooper--**

There's a dark-skinned woman under fire, and she doesn't hesitate.

Her weapon, pulled from the mothballs of Torchwood Three, is in her hands before she knows what she's doing, and the metal ball, with its whirring blades and spinning needles, is on the floor in a sparking heap, the energy discharge from her shot sending it crashing down. Re-holstering her weapon, she reaches out to the other woman and helps her to her feet.

The other smiles. "Thanks. Thought I was a goner." She offers her hand. "Martha Jones."

Gwen nods, and smiles a little. "I know. We've been looking for you."

Martha's forehead furrows. " 'We'?"

Gwen's smile freezes. "Well. Just me now, I guess."

Martha nods – she understands. "So why were you looking for me?"

Gwen shrugs. "Torchwood wanted to help." Her gaze drops from her new acquaintance's face. "Fat lot of good that did us."

"Torchwood?" Martha thinks, biting her lip. She smiles. "I met someone who used to work for Torchwood. He was…" She trails off, thoughtful.

But Gwen suddenly knows. "Jack? Jack Harkness?"

Martha looks at her in surprise. "Yes. That was him. Do you know him?"

Gwen laughs – this is the first time she's laughed since she lost Owen. "He was my boss. He, ah…" She stops, and smiles. "He saved the world."

Martha watches her keenly, and smiles too. "You too." She laughs at her own comment, her repetition of his words.

But then Gwen's eyes widen. "Look out!" She seizes Martha's shoulders and whirls her around and to the ground, putting herself in the path of the whirring ball of metal.

"No!" Martha tears at Gwen, trying to pull her down, but Gwen stands firm.

Through the pain, she looks down at Martha. "Run." She grates it out, against the pain. "Run, and save this world."

And then, giving in, she screams her heart out.

**--jack harkness--**

"All gone, Jack."

The token is a simple scrap of material this time, raggedly torn from a shirt, or maybe a jacket. The Master pushes it beneath his captive's nose. "It still smells of her, doesn't it?" He laughs gaily and pushes the scrap into his prisoner's shirt pocket. "Word is she gave herself for another familiar name – Martha Jones!"

For the first time, his companion moves. He looks up, and his eyes are full of hatred. "I will _kill_ you."

The Master laughs, and bends down. He whispers in Jack's ear. "I'd like to see you try."


	5. jack harkness

Disclaimer etc.: see 1st part.

Final part here! Thanks to my reviewers: **talkingtothesky**, **Talaayn**, **Gamine Madcap**, **Horsie Friend**, **Kururu Socho**, **Haven't found a name yet **and **funkfairygirl**. Love ya!

Maybe this isn't quite what people were expecting, but y'know... R&R is blessed to the Muse, and enjoy!

Tokens

**--jack harkness--**

He tells the Doctor and Martha that in that long year he thought about his team, and that much is true. But he doesn't tell them—he can't bring himself to tell them—what he thought about. He grieved for them, one by one, as the Master brought him proof of their passing.

Every time the Master visited him in his prison his heart broke just a little more.

He smiles at the pair of them, bidding them farewell. "I'll see you." And he runs away from them. He might love the Doctor, but (and it took him losing them to realise it) he loves his team more.

He runs, right up until he reaches the door that leads to Torchwood Three's false front. And then he just looks at it.

And he smiles. And he enters.

**--ianto jones--**

He looks up as the door opens, a welcoming smile already fixed on his face. And then his jaw drops. "Jack?" he asks, incredulous.

"Ianto." That is confirmation. And Jack grins at him. And he walks to him, and he seizes his head between his hands and he kisses him, hard and long. He draws back, and the smile on his face is brighter than the sun.

Jack rummages through his pockets, and he withdraws a familiar stopwatch. "Found something you lost." There's pain in his eyes, and the suited receptionist takes the watch, still in shock.

"But, sir…" There's an identical watch in his inside pocket, and he draws it out. He holds it up in question.

Definite pain now. "You don't want to know, Ianto."

And then Jack is off, down into the Hub. He follows.

**--toshiko sato--**

She's working as the entrance to the Hub slides open, and she looks up, expecting Ianto to enter the Torchwood workspace, a greeting on her lips.

She's half right, and her eyes go as wide as saucers when she sees who is leading Ianto down the steps.

"Jack?" she asks, utterly shocked.

Jack grins at her. "Tosh."

She can't move as he strides towards her – she can only watch. They thought he was gone, that he'd abandoned them. "But how…?"

He cups her cheeks in his hands, and there is joy in his eyes. "I have my ways." And he leans down and gently kisses her lips. She thinks that, as his cheek brushes hers, she feels dampness, but there is no sign of tears as he pulls back. "Toshiko."

Jack reaches back, and then his hand returns. A pair of glasses with shattered lenses is between his fingers, and he hands them to her. She touches their twin, resting on the bridge of her nose, and looks up at him questioningly.

His thumb strokes her cheek. "It never happened." That is his only answer, and she swears Jack sounds joyous.

**--owen harper--**

Wrist deep in alien entrails, he looks up. There's a familiar face stood, looking down at him, and he is stunned. "Jack?" he asks, his voice a rasp.

"Owen." Jack's voice is almost like a sigh, as if everything is coming together.

He can't move as the other man jogs down the stairs to the medical bay. He is stunned – utterly so. But Jack is grinning as he reaches him, tips his chin upwards and kisses him.

Harkness's eyes glimmer bright with tears as he pulls away from the shocked doctor. "Present for you, noble Owen." He tucks a familiar chain into the breast pocket of the doctor's lab coat, and smiles.

He frowns. "Already got one of those, sir."

Jack's eyes freeze over. "It was taken from you." And with that cryptic answer, he is away.

**--gwen cooper--**

It's calm up here. It's where she comes to think – to get away from the oppressive clamour of the Hub.

It's where Jack finds her.

He stands behind her, a little way off, and watches her. She is silhouetted against the blueness of the sky, and the unruly wind whips her hair. But she doesn't move. She's like a statue.

He steps forward. "Gwen," he says.

She turns to face him, and she smiles. There's no surprise on her face; no shock. Just that enigmatic smile. "I knew you'd come," she says.

"How'd you know?"

She shrugs. "I just knew." She turns her back to him – looks out over Cardiff. He steps up to join her. "Where were you?"

"Far away. And yet…" He sighed. "And yet just next door." She's used to his cryptic observations by now, and she just waits. He extends his arm to her. A scrap of flimsy material is clenched between his fingers, fluttering in the breeze. "It's yours. Take it."

She smiles wider. "Keep it."

He looks at her quizzically, and she flashes that beatific smile up at him.

And then she's hugging him, and he's hugging her back, and he can't quell the tears that have been threatening to spill down his cheeks ever since he stepped back into Torchwood – his world. "Gwen," he whispers.

"Jack," she whispers back, and this time it's not a question: rather an affirmation. She pulls back from their fever-tight embrace and she takes his face between her hands. She smiles at him, but her eyes are crying with him. "Jack," she says again.

And then _she _is kissing _him_.

**--captain jack harkness--**

Jack's back, everyone. For good.

--end--


End file.
